Retail sales in US decreased 0.4 percent in January, Commerce says

Retail sales in the U.S. declined in January by the most in 10 months as inclement weather kept some consumers away from auto showrooms and stores.

The 0.4 percent decrease followed a revised 0.1 percent drop in December that was previously reported as an increase, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 86 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for no change. Sales excluding automobiles were unchanged.

Some Americans stayed closer to home, limiting trips to car dealerships and malls, as colder-than-normal temperatures and snowfall gripped parts of the nation. Job growth and wage gains the last two months also slowed, indicating consumers may have trouble maintaining the pace of spending after the fastest increase in three years in the final quarter of 2013.

"I don't see the argument for why consumer spending will sustain a strong pace," Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, said before the report. "I don't see a dramatic improvement in the labor market. It is more of the same. I don't see any big wage gains coming."

Estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from a decline of 0.5 percent to a 0.4 percent gain. The reading for the prior month was revised from an initially reported 0.2 percent increase.

Stock-index futures extended losses after the figures. The contract on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index expiring in March decreased 0.6 percent to 1,806.1 at 8:59 a.m. in New York.

Jobless Claims

Another report showed more Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, underscoring the uneven progress in the labor market. Jobless claims increased by 8,000 to 339,000 in the week ended Feb. 8, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 52 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a decrease to 330,000.

January was the coldest in three years, with snowfall almost four times above normal, according to weather-data provider Planalytics Inc. That followed the coldest December since 2009 with snowfall 21 percent above normal.

Sales slumped 2.1 percent at automobile dealers, the most since October 2012, after a 1.8 percent decrease the prior month.

Auto Sales

Automakers said adverse weather depressed vehicle deliveries, which have been a bright spot for consumer spending in this expansion. Cars and light trucks sold at a 15.2 million annualized pace in January, slowing from a 15.3 million rate in December that had helped cap the best year for the industry since 2007, according to Ward's Automotive Group.

Sales slid 12 percent for General Motors Co. and 7.5 percent for Ford Motor Co., the two largest U.S. automakers, while Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. also reported lower U.S. sales than analysts estimated.

"January got off to a pretty slow start with really inclement weather in the heartland of the country, all the way down into Texas," John Felice, U.S. sales chief for Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford, said on a Feb. 3 conference call. "As things improved around the country mid-month, we saw a bounce- back in demand and sales, which was encouraging. Then, sadly, the last week of the month we saw again another arctic blast."

Retail sales excluding autos were unchanged after a 0.3 percent gain in December that was weaker than initially reported, today's data showed.

Purchases excluding merchants such as food services, car dealers, hardware stores and service stations - which are the figures used to calculate gross domestic product - fell 0.3 percent after a revised 0.3 percent increase in the previous month that was smaller than initially reported.